Bruins not at their best as they hold off Trojans to advance to semifinal
LAS VEGAS — UCLA didn’t need to fill a whiteboard with the intricacies of its high-scoring offense or its much-improved defense.
The Bruins’ game plan heading into the Pac-12 Conference tournament was simple: just do what they do, be who they are and don’t change a thing in the wake of a lengthy winning streak that coincided with their best basketball of the season.
Then UCLA went out and looked nothing like itself against its archrival Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Bruins committed turnovers, missed shots and failed to defend at the high level that had sparked their late-season surge.
They prevailed thanks to some good oldfashioned luck, USC’s Bennie Boatwright missing a three-pointer that could have tied the score and the Trojans also missing two layups in the final minute.
Third-ranked UCLA trudged off the court in sweaty relief after its 76-74 quarterfinal victory was secured only after Bryce Alford threw a long inbounds outlet pass to Isaac Hamilton, who dribbled out the final seconds after Boatwright had made a three-pointer.
Hamilton saved UCLA from a potential seeding freefall in the NCAA tournament, making a baseline f loater that put his team ahead, 7469, and finishing with 22 points to help the Bruins stretch their winning streak to 10 games.
It had looked like UCLA might win in a runaway when the Bruins went on a 12-0 surge early in the second half that spanned more than four minutes. There was an Alford corner three-pointer, a Thomas Welsh dunk and a Hamilton reverse layup, the Bruins also getting good defense while building a 50-37 lead.
But the Trojans crawled back, possession by possession. There was an improbable halfcourt lob from Jordan McLaughlin to Elijah Stewart for a dunk before Stewart pulled USC to within 71-69 with 4:23 left on a corner three-pointer. USC Coach Andy Enfield stripped off his suit jacket and tie amid the tension.
The Trojans wouldn’t go away even after Hamilton’s floater gave the Bruins a fivepoint lead. Chimezie Metu made two free throws to draw the Trojans within three points and Boatwright missed a three-pointer that could have tied it with 37 seconds left. McLaughlin and Stewart later missed layups that could have made it a onepoint game.
UCLA (29-3) advanced to a semifinal to play No. 7 Arizona (28-4), which should enjoy a considerable edge in fan support if the red that became the primary color inside the arena for its victory over Colorado earlier in the day was any indication.
Meanwhile, USC (23-9), appears safely in the NCAA tournament even with the loss considering the Trojans have a better record than they did last season, when they were seeded No. 8 in the East Regional.
Stewart finished with 17 points for USC, which shot only 32.4% for the game.
UCLA power forward TJ Leaf was strong all around in his return from the sprained left ankle that had forced him to miss nearly two full games, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists while wearing a black wrapping around the ankle. Leaf showed his ankle was just fine only 24 seconds into the game when he threw down a twohanded dunk.
Welsh collected 11 points and 11 rebounds and teammate Lonzo Ball had 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
The start couldn’t have gone much worse for USC. The Trojans missed their first eight shots, having two blocked by Welsh, as the Bruins scored the game’s first eight points.
USC needed nearly five minutes to score, breaking through on Boatwright’s three-pointer. The Trojans caught a break when Ball was called for his second foul on what appeared to be incidental contact with 15:49 left in the half, irking Bruins Coach Steve Alford.
“That’s so bad!” Alford yelled across the court at the referee as backup point guard Aaron Holiday raced to the scorer’s table to check in for Ball.
The UCLA offense soon went into an unintentional stall with Ball on the bench, bad shots sparking a 6-0 run by the Trojans. Hamilton then negated the push with backto-back-to-back three-pointers.
UCLA guard Bryce Alford nudged himself into the top spot in school history for three-pointers when he made one with 5:01 left in the first half. Alford had entered the game tied with Jason Kapono, having made 317 before Thursday, and now has 319 after making two of seven shots from long range.